x9200 wrote:There are a lot of Malays and Indians and the girls do not count. If this is not the low end how it is possible that many construction site has swarms of m.bikes parked around? Hardly any other setting yields in similar observation. Management and engineers rides all these 100-150cc Hondas, Yamahas etc?

C'mon.Young and passionate riders are easy to be distinguished from that crowd. They contribute maybe in 30% max and they ride a different class of motorbikes like b-class Kawasakies, Bajajs, etc ... all what they think has a look or elements of the unrestricted class.

I ride a Bajaj BTW, those construction site workers, majority ride Malaysia registered bikes. What I am trying to say is Singaporeans who ride the Honda Wave and Yamaha Spark are not the low end of the society as cost of maintaining a bike is similar to riding an MRT. I would say they are the "brave" end of the society and those that value the independence of own transport than safety.

Wd40 wrote:I ride a Bajaj BTW, those construction site workers, majority ride Malaysia registered bikes. What I am trying to say is Singaporeans who ride the Honda Wave and Yamaha Spark are not the low end of the society as cost of maintaining a bike is similar to riding an MRT. I would say they are the "brave" end of the society and those that value the independence of own transport than safety.

Could be the brave end but it is still the low end (I did not say the lowest). For the mentioned earlier students it is also hardly the case. I am staying a lot within NTU/NUS campuses and there are some for sure, but it's a clear minority. Probably more students drive BMWs and such than motorbikes.
Hard to believe all the hondas/yamahas are from Malaysia.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with Wd40 as well. University students will be driving cages (usually nicer models to boot) with some exceptions. The enthusiasts, however, will be driving more upmarket bikes of the same cc or larger capacity bikes.

Most 'nice' girls don't want to hike their skirts over the back end of a bike and therefore it doesn't behoove a young male to ride a pea-shooter unless that's all he can afford. Most of the lower end riders in Singapore ride bikes because that is the only transport they can afford and it's also a way for the lower educated male to ensure that he can always find a job - dispatch, delivery, etc where own transport is required). Those who can afford to ride BIG bikes do so as a statement of independence and know that bikes over, say 750 cc up (bigger is better in this case) is a babe magnet just the opposite of same girls who would scoff at climbing on the back of 175cc peashooter.

when my bike was new (2012) the COE was less than half of what it would be today (give or take).

In other words, since I bought the bike in November, before the latest rises, I could probably sell it for more than I bought it for.

Madness.

(not that I am EVER going to sell that bike, it will come with me to wherever I go next - unless the COE go to something stupid like 10,000SGD obviously)

This is very common with cars. I've met more than a few people who bought cars here, drove them a few years, and then sold for more than the original price. This of course is completely dependent on the COE pricing, and can go either way.

I sold my Bajaj Pulsar 200 with 4 years COE remaining just 2 days ago for $2700. It was excellent condition mechanically, but the paintwork had faded. The rise in COE prices hasn't yet trickled into the used bikes market, if I had waited for couple of months, probably I would have got a better price. But I can't wait that long.